Chinese officials recently met in Beijing with representatives from the West African country of Sierra Leone to discuss opportunities for collaboration between the two nations.
Among other meetings, Han Jun, secretary of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, met with Sierra Leone’s Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources Princess Dugba.
The meeting marked a continuation of close cooperation between China and Sierra Leone, with China already having pledged to build a fishing port for the West African country. Dugba met China’s Ambassador to Sierra Leone Wang Qing in June to sign an agreement on commencement of work at the port.
The port project has been controversial, as local environmentalists and fishermen have protested environmental damage and the potential impact of large Chinese trawlers on local fish stocks.
Nevertheless, in exchange for the port, China is looking for a friendly base for its distant-water fleet.
A new report published in Ocean and Coastal Management has suggested that the construction of distant-water fishing bases are a strategic priority for China, which hopes to remove barriers for its fishing companies from operating internationally.
Titled “Exploring the Construction of China's Distant-Water Fishing Bases: Modes, Challenges And Prospects,” the report suggests the construction of distant-water fishing bases “should overcome the barriers to market entry, improve the construction of infrastructure and industrial supporting facilities, improve the quality of talents, and reduce the uncertainty of entering the international market.”
The report’s authors note that “like many other developed nations, China is attempting to establish both local and international distant-water fishing bases in light of the current development bottleneck.” This bottleneck, they explain, is a lack of fisheries infrastructure and management capacity in developing countries.
“Although some developing countries possess abundant fisheries resources within their territorial waters, they are often constrained by a lack of adequate fishing and management capabilities, which consequently leads to a significant portion of their revenue being derived from the sale of fishing rights to fishing states,” the report said.
At the more recent meetings, which took place during the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, Sierra Leone was granted an International Fish Export Certificate by the Chinese government. This certification is expected to allow Sierra Leone’s fishing industry to streamline international fish exports and increase the country’s revenue from the sector.
